<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>you love me (i love you harder) by bellawritess</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29843913">you love me (i love you harder)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellawritess/pseuds/bellawritess'>bellawritess</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>jalex prompts [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>All Time Low (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(duh), Birthday Fluff, Birthday Presents, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Rating for Language, Star Wars References</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:40:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,215</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29843913</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellawritess/pseuds/bellawritess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex makes an offended noise as Jack returns, leaping over the back of the couch to settle in. “‘Love you <i>more</i>'? What the fuck is this?”</p><p>Jack sets their pint of chocolate ice cream on the table alongside two spoons. “Oh,” he says, poorly concealing a smirk, “that’s my matching mug.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jack Barakat/Alex Gaskarth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>jalex prompts [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1993036</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>you love me (i love you harder)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetmagnolia/gifts">sunsetmagnolia</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>okay so this was a prompt from <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetmagno">meghna</a> thanks love it's short and sweet and hopefully more or less what you were thinking with this. i don't have anything else to say it's just cute and dumb</p><p>title from 6 months by hey monday</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="https://clumsyclifford.tumblr.com/post/645580079005630464/jack-gets-alex-a-birthday-gift-thats-a-simple-mug">tumblr reblog link!</a></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jack offers up the box with a grandiose gesture, and Alex graciously takes it out of his hands. “Is it a basketball?”</p><p>“Of course not,” Jack says. “You don’t even play basketball. It’s a baseball bat.”</p><p>“Duh,” Alex says, facepalming. Jack giggles.</p><p>“Open it,” he prompts, leaning his elbows on the table, face in his hands. It pushes up his cheeks and pulls his lips into a pseudo-smile. Alex takes a moment to appreciate his boyfriend, who is the most adorable person on the planet. As birthday boy, he thinks it’s his right to take as many moments as he wants. “Alex! Open it.”</p><p>“Okay, okay,” Alex says. Clearly he is not as entitled to boyfriend-appreciating moments as he’d thought. He pulls at the taped-down flaps of the wrapping paper, tearing it off to reveal an unmarked cardboard box. Tossing the wrapping paper aside, Alex opens the box.</p><p>“Oh, I fucking love this,” he says, freeing the mug from its container, and that’s when he sees the writing. The sheer fondness must immediately appear in his face. “Jack…”</p><p><em> Love you, </em> says the mug, in big, golden cursive. Its golden handle matches; set against the white base of the mug, the whole thing feels decidedly sophisticated. “This is so cute,” Alex says, smiling so hard he knows his cheeks will soon hurt. He turns the mug around so Jack can see the front. “It says ‘love you’!”</p><p>“Yeah, because I love you,” Jack says, gazing at Alex with a megawatt smile of his own. “You like it?”</p><p>“Yeah, I fucking love it,” Alex says, beaming. “It’s so chic, I’ll feel like a king drinking my herbal tea every morning. And thinking of you.”</p><p>“That’s the goal,” Jack says. “I’m just gonna integrate myself into every part of your life until one day you wake up and realize I’m everywhere and you’ll never escape.”</p><p>“That,” Alex says, leaning over the table to kiss Jack, “sounds like a dream.”</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Hey, Alex, you want hot chocolate?” Jack calls from the kitchen.</p><p>Alex deliberates, then calls back, “Yeah, sure.”</p><p>Jack is responsible for the refreshments; meanwhile, Alex pries open the DVD for <em>A New Hope.</em> <em>Real</em> birthday privilege is getting to pick the movie, although in complete honesty, <em>Star Wars</em> is more tradition at this point. They watch this on Alex’s birthday and <em>Home Alone </em>on Jack’s. At this point Alex is pretty sure he has both movies memorized almost as well as his own lyrics. </p><p>The list of movies they intend to watch together is forever getting longer, but Alex is a sucker for a tradition. Especially when said tradition involves watching his favorite movie with his favorite boy on his favorite day. It's the full package.</p><p>A few minutes later, Jack emerges from the kitchen, a steaming mug in each hand and a bowl of popcorn balanced precariously on the crook of his arm. Alex grabs the bowl as Jack sets both mugs on the coffee table in front of them. </p><p>“Be right back,” he says, and bustles back into the kitchen. </p><p>Alex reaches for the mug closest to him. It’s the one Jack had gotten him, and the gilded words gleam in the low light of the living room. Next to it on the table, though, is an identical mug, the same white ceramic and golden handle. Alex can even see gold lettering curling around the edges. He frowns and reaches for it, turning it on the tabletop. Did Jack get them matching <em> love you </em> mugs? </p><p>Except they’re not identical. Not quite.</p><p>Alex makes an offended noise as Jack returns, leaping over the back of the couch to settle in. “‘Love you <em> more</em>’? What the fuck is this?”</p><p>Jack sets their pint of chocolate ice cream on the table alongside two spoons. “Oh,” he says, poorly concealing a smirk, “that’s my matching mug.”</p><p>“It says ‘love you <em> more</em>’!” Alex says indignantly. “Which is categorically untrue!”</p><p>“Is it?” Jack wrinkles his nose in mockery. “Really, is it?”</p><p>“Fuck you, it’s the biggest lie I’ve ever seen in my life,” Alex says. “I can’t believe your birthday present to me was, like, a backhanded compliment at best!”</p><p>“<em>First </em>of all, it was only one of my birthday presents to you,” Jack says. “And second of all, giving you a mug that said ‘love you more’ wouldn’t have made any sense unless you had seen the first one. If you wanted the ‘love you more’ mug you should’ve thought of this first.”</p><p>“I'm a year older than you, my birthday is before yours, you dick,” Alex says, not that he would ever have thought to buy matching mugs, but it’s the principle of the thing. “This is slander and I won’t stand for it.”</p><p>“Uh, wrong,” Jack says. “If anything it’s libel.”</p><p>“Okay, fuck your semantics,” Alex grouses, crossing his arms. </p><p>“Al-<em>ex </em>,” Jack wheedles, leaning into him and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “It was just a joke. Don’t be mad. We’ll share the mugs anyway, so we can trade who loves who more.”</p><p>Alex laughs despite himself. He’s not sure why he’s bothering to pretend; even in real arguments, he can’t hold a grudge against Jack, and over something like this there’s no hope. “You do not understand how relationships work.”</p><p>“<em>Au contraire, mon frère,</em>” says Jack. “I understand perfectly.”</p><p>“Did you just call me brother?”</p><p>“I meant it in like a bro way. Look, it’s not important.” Jack waves away Alex’s chortling laugh. “What’s important is that you already told me you love me infinity, and I love <em> you </em> infinity, so I couldn’t love you more anyway because nothing is more anything than infinity.”</p><p>Somehow, Alex has managed to follow this sentence. Now he huffs a laugh. “Well, you know, some infinities are bigger than other infinities.”</p><p>Jack scrunches up his face in surrender. “I know that’s a fucking reference to something and I don’t fucking know what.”</p><p>“I can’t tell you, I’ll lose all my street cred,” Alex says seriously. He kisses Jack, and when he pulls away Jack smiles, eyes still closed, content. “I’m not actually mad. I actually think it’s really cute.”</p><p>Jack opens his eyes, but his smile doesn’t waver. “Yeah, you love me.”</p><p>Alex shakes his head slightly. His lips curl up and there’s a warm feeling in his chest. “Hmm, I don’t see any mugs that say that?”</p><p>Jack laughs. “Never mind, I take it back. I hate you. Would you play the movie already?”</p><p>Alex acquiesces and hits play on the remote. He snuggles closer to Jack, drawing his legs up onto the couch and leaning his head on Jack’s shoulder. “Okay, you got me. I do love you.”</p><p>Jack presses a kiss into his hair. “I know.”</p><p>“That’s not ‘til next movie,” Alex whispers, and Jack laughs.</p><p>“Fine, try again.”</p><p>“I love you,” Alex says, failing to keep the smile out of his voice.</p><p>“Love you more,” Jack says, innocent as anything.</p><p>Alex sighs happily. He’s got his favorite movie on the TV, the love of his life curled up next to him, and a pint of chocolate ice cream that’s just calling his name, all courtesy of Jack. </p><p>Just this once, Alex decides to let it slide. Jack has earned his right to the ‘love you more.’</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thanks for joining me :) i'm on tumblr <a href="http://clumsyclifford.tumblr.com/">@clumsyclifford</a> as always and would love to chat or collect more prompts for my evil dragon stash/hoard. by the way if anyone wondered <a href="https://www.hallmark.com/gifts/kitchen/mugs-and-teacups/love-you-and-love-you-more-mugs-set-of-2-1ERL1147.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAhP2BBhDdARIsAJEzXlEADhZi-O4IBiYMdNXlFfeKLaauT4g0BxGhbypsc7k4yg-i0kuRD7YaAvXXEALw_wcB&amp;ef_id=Cj0KCQiAhP2BBhDdARIsAJEzXlEADhZi-O4IBiYMdNXlFfeKLaauT4g0BxGhbypsc7k4yg-i0kuRD7YaAvXXEALw_wcB:G:s&amp;s_kwcid=AL!5392!3!486880921424!!!g!297750801261!&amp;mc=t_s_hr_Google+Adwords_LIA+-+RoAS+General+-+G+-+OCE__%7Bstore_id">here</a> are the mugs in question they are actually pretty snazzy i'm not gonna lie</p><p>anyway if you liked it leave a comment!! thanks friends adieu</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>